Saturday’s Kitchen: Tots! : A Cookbook by Dan Whalen – Book Review with Recipe Results – January 27th

On By MischenkoIn Cooking, Reads, Saturday's Kitchen/Special

Hello lovely friends! Welcome back to another Saturday’s Kitchen, where I share with you some recipes from our Saturday cooking adventures. Today I’m going to  talk about a cookbook I ended up requesting from NetGalley. We’ve made a few delicious recipes from this book and you can read my review of the book and see our recipe results below.

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Today I’ll be sharing my review of:

Tots!: A Cookbook

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Blurb: It’s a fact: Americans love tots, and last year consumed 3.5 billion of them. And not just at home. From fast-food joints to high-end restaurants, chefs are joining the tot trend, serving exotically spiced tots or fun mash-ups like Totchos, with tots replacing the corn chips in nachos. But now, prepare for TOT-al domination! Created by mad-genius food blogger Dan Whalen, Tots! elevates the friendly little tater to its place in the culinary spotlight.
This irresistible cookbook with a nubby tot-texture on the cover offers 50 delicious, playful, and surprising recipes for snacks, appetizers, inspired main dishes, and inspired sides, even desserts. (Yes, you could create an entire tot-centric dinner.) Here are party dishes like Buffalo Tots and Tot Poutine. A Tot Caesar for an elegant starter. Tots for breakfast, like Tots Benedict and a Tot Shakshuka, and tots for dinner—Moules Tots, Chicken Tot Pie, Tater Tot Pizza, and Bibimtot. Side dishes—next Thanksgiving, try Sausage and Tot Stuffing. And for sweets lovers, Tot Churros (deep-fried and dipped in chocolate ganache), Apple Tot Crumble (that crispy salty tot topping really plays off the warm sweet apples), and Tot S’mores—a heavenly melt of a dish.
Every recipe uses frozen commercial tots—but Dan Whalen also shows die-hard tot lovers how to make tots from scratch and then alter their creations with different spices (think Tots Vindaloo) and sauces. It’s TOT-ally awesome. – Amazon

My Thoughts:

My husband is what I call a ‘tot aficionado’ because he’s one of those people willing to stand every single tater tot straight up, perfectly spaced, to get nice crispy tots every time right out of the oven. So, when I saw Tots!: A Cookbook, I had to grab it. I’m always hopeful to impress my family with some new and fresh recipes, and these would include one of their favorite foods.
The book begins describing the different types of tots you can buy and how to cook them. I was already fascinated with just the simple tricks for getting the crispiest tots in the oven. No more standing them up! The author shares a simple little addition that gets your tots super crispy and it truly works! I was able to impress my husband and had a huge smile on my face when he said, “Wow, these are perfect.”
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Sections of the book include some basics, seasonings, sauces, dips, appetizers, breakfast recipes, main dishes, and desserts. There’s also a nifty ‘Timeline of the Tater Tot’ including some history which was fun to read. There’s even a recipe for making your tots from scratch.
I decided to start with the Chipotle Mayo for a dip. I ended up serving this with the super crispy tots I mention above. It was a huge hit! The dip turned out sensational and it was a nice change from ketchup or barbecue sauce.

Chipotle Mayo:

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It’s basically a mix of mayo, sour cream, and seasonings.
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Monster Tot Bacon Grilled Cheese:

I honestly don’t know anyone who wouldn’t love this grilled cheese! It’s basically monster tots with bacon and cheese in the middle. No bread!

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These were also a huge hit! Again, another gluten free recipe.

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Apple Tot Crisp:

This one just seems like a no-brainer. Salty tots and sweet apple crisp…Plus, this can easily serve as a gluten free recipe if your oats and tots are both gluten free. If you need to go dairy free, just use a butter substitute.

You make the filling first which consists of apples and some seasonings. I ended up using an apple corer/peeler which makes the process so much easier.

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Then you make the crisp for the top, ending with a sprinkling of brown sugar.

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We baked it at 350 degrees for close to an hour. It came out perfect.

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We served it with vanilla ice cream as suggested. Everyone loved it. I even tried a bite and I was astonished! Even without the ice cream, it’s delectable.

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There are still so many recipes that we want to try in the book like the Po-Tot-o salad, Cheesy Tot Skins, Totzarella Sticks, and Mac ‘N’ Tot ‘N’ Cheese. Overall, this is another 5-star cookbook that I will definitely be purchasing for our kitchen.

You can find this on Goodreads and Amazon: The book can be purchased May of 2018.

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (May 15, 2018)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0761189947
  • ISBN-13: 978-0761189947

 

This is Book# 5 for my Netgalley/Edelweiss Challenge

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You can see it HERE

Thanks for checking out Saturday’s Kitchen. Do you like tater tots? What are some of your favorite cookbooks? I love hearing from you guys, so please feel free to share your comments or even suggestions below. Thank you!  🙂

26 thoughts on “Saturday’s Kitchen: Tots! : A Cookbook by Dan Whalen – Book Review with Recipe Results – January 27th”

  1. Pingback: Reading Challenges 2018 – Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge #NGEW2018 and Ultimate Reading Challenge #UltimateReadingChallenge – ReadRantRock&Roll

  3. starjustin

    The Apple Tot Crisp was delicious. I’ve been off butter and refined sugar for awhile but couldn’t resist trying some. It was perfect! Amazing that there’s a recipe book just for Tots. Lol. Gotta love it. Great post! 😀🐦

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. No, we used frozen tots and the monster tots are just the flat hash browns. I have never tried chili cheese tots, but your going to have to let me know about those because they sound delicious. I’m sure my family will love them! Thanks, Nel. ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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